Covered Incense Burner

This elaborately carved incense burner is a classic example of Mughal or Indian-style jade carving. Muslim merchants from India often acted as middlemen in the jade trade between Turkestan, Burma and China. Certain types of carved jade and silver vessels manufactured in India and popular in the Mughal courts found their way to China. The Indian floral and tendril motifs, along with a preference for openwork and thinly walled vessels influenced Chinese carvers, who responded by incorporating these motifs and techniques into some of their own work, like this censer. Although it takes the shape of an ancient Chinese bronze vessel called a tui and a coiled dragon surmounts the lid, the extensive use of chrysanthemum motifs, the thin walls and the elaborate pierce-work of the cover evoke the Indian-style.